By 2012, Steve Aoki had become the highest-grossing dance music artist in North America, playing to crowds of tens of thousands at major festivals.
Where this was said
At 55:03 · chapter starts 46:40
The transition from punk to electronic was mediated by a single record. Steve heard LCD Soundsystem's 'Losing My Edge' — 118 beats per minute, a bass line that just stays and grows, James Murphy talking over the top — and immediately clocked: this is achievable. The DIY epiphany of punk all over again, just at a higher tempo. [1] — Steve Aoki "Steve Aoki's very first remix — of Bloc Party's 'Helicopter' — was pressed on a 12-inch with no digital distribution. The other side? Diplo…" 52:35 He went to Craigslist, found a Pro Tools teacher, and started producing. Around the same time, having signed Bloc Party to Dim Mak, he had the stems to remix 'Helicopter' — his first official remix. He recruited his friend Blake Miller to do the other side of the 12-inch. That friend turned out to be Diplo. Neither was famous yet. Around the world, these small underground hipster party scenes — LA, Philadelphia, London, Tokyo — were quietly building a global community that would eventually explode into mainstream EDM.
James Murphy's 'Losing My Edge' — 118 BPM, a looping bass line, and Murphy talking over the beat — was the record that converted Steve Aoki from punk to electronic. He heard it and thought: I could make this. It was DIY enough to feel possible, hypnotic enough to be powerful. He went straight to Craigslist to hire a Pro Tools teacher.
Steve Aoki's very first remix — of Bloc Party's 'Helicopter' — was pressed on a 12-inch with no digital distribution. The other side? Diplo's first remix. Neither man knew the other would become a global superstar. Around the world, small underground hipster party scenes in LA, Philadelphia, London, and Japan were quietly building the infrastructure for the EDM explosion.
Steve Aoki's first remix of Bloc Party's 'Helicopter' was paired on a 12-inch with what turned out to be Diplo's first remix, pressed before digital distribution existed.
The Frozen soundtrack was the best-selling album of 2014, selling 10 million copies including streaming equivalents — beating Taylor Swift's 1989.
Most music historians point to 1968 as the year reggae was definitively born, marked by songs like Desmond Dekker's 'The Israelites' and the first use of the word 'reggae' by Toots and the Maytals.
Mento, the earliest predecessor to reggae from the 1940s–50s, blended African work songs with European musical influences and featured instruments like banjo, guitar, and the rumba box.
Transistor radios allowed Jamaicans to tune into Miami R&B stations for the first time in the 1950s–60s, directly inspiring ska and setting the stage for reggae.
Rocksteady, the slower, vocal-heavy predecessor to reggae, was popular for just about two years but produced major hits including the original 'Tide Is High' and 'Ain't No Sunshine.'
Joe Higgs' 1960 debut hit 'Manny-O' with Higgs and Wilson was one of the first records ever pressed and sold in Jamaica, selling 50,000 copies — a remarkable figure for the era.
Two days after being shot in the chest and shoulder at his home in 1976, Bob Marley still performed the Smile Jamaica anti-violence concert, showing extraordinary commitment to peace.
Catch a Fire (1972) is considered the Wailers' first full-blown reggae album, despite the group having released approximately four albums prior that were more R&B in style.
DJ Kool Herc, widely credited as a founding father of hip-hop, was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and brought Jamaican toasting traditions with him when he moved to the Bronx at age 12.
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